P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Iraj Bashiri

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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to St. Petersburg (1883-84), he was assigned the qadiship (office of the

judge) of Bukhara's remote districts, Ghuzor and Nahrpai.

Undaunted, Donish worked on his Navodir al-Vaqoye' (Singular

Events, 1885) until the new Amir, Abdulahad (ruled 1885-1910), ap-

pointed him director of one of Bukhara's madrasahs. When Navodir

was completed, Donish copied and distributed it among his friends and

supporters. Highly influential in awakening the people, Donish's work

rallied the Amir, the court, and the Ulema against him. The book was

singled out as anti-Islamic, and its author as irreligious and unprinci-

pled. It was even rumored that Donish lacked a knowledge of Islam and

the Shari'a (law). In response to these allegations, Donish published

Mi'yor al-Tadayun (The Touchstone of Religion, 1894) in which he

analyzed the Islamic figh (jurisprudence) as it pertained to his contem-

poraries. In fact, in matters of religion, Donish easily outshone his dog-

matic accusers.

Convinced that mere improvements in the government would not be

sufficient to place Bukhara on a solid path to progress, during his last

years, Donish devoted his time to writing Risolai Ta'rikhi (Historical

Essay, 1897). In it, he severely criticized the 100-year rule of the

Manghit amirs, especially Muzaffar. Furthermore, he prophesied that

either internal strife or the will of the people would put an end to the

rule of the Manghits.

A unique individual, Donish taught himself the works of the masters

and made three arduous trips to Russia to perfect his understanding of

the world. When he became convinced of the inability of Bukharan

authorities to effect change, he severely criticized the traditional meth-

ods used in the Bukharan madrasahs, promoted the learning of foreign

languages and the exact sciences, and more poignantly, documented the

root causes of the malaise that permeated every aspect of Bukharan life.

In the field of literature, Donish influenced the literary developments of

his time by introducing realism into Tajik literature, and by broadening

the scope of the vernacular to encompass the expression of contempo-

rary concerns.

Ahmad Donish died in 1897 in Bukhara.